‘Dream delivery? What’s that’
Jasprit Bumrah may have a quirky action, but he is also an intelligent bowler with boundless energy. That was why India skipper Virat Kohli was desperate that he recovers from a left thumb fracture suffered early on the tour and return.
The 24-year-old once again showed why he is valued so much, rattling England for the second innings in a row to help bowl out the hosts for 246 on the first day of the fourth Test at the Ageas Bowl on Thursday.
He took two of the first three wickets, finishing with 3/46 after bowling a marathon 20 overs. Recalled for the third Test at Trent Bridge, Bumrah’s five-for after striking with the second new ball on the fourth evening dashed England’s hopes and set up a remarkable win for the visitors.
Left to bowl first by England skipper Joe Root, he made the hosts rue the decision with pace, movement and judicious use of variations. England were reeling at 86/6 before all-rounder Sam Curran hit 78 at No 8.
It was Bumrah’s unplayable incoming delivery to the lefthander which he rarely bowls, to trap opener Keaton Jennings for nought, opened the floodgates. But he played it down.
“Whenever you get a wicket, it’s very good. Whenever a plan works, it is a good feeling. Dream delivery I don’t know about that, but it’s a good sign when you get an early wicket. I’m very happy,” he said.
England recovered late into the afternoon session. “You can’t expect us to take five-six wickets every session,” he said. “They also played well, got a good partnership between Curran and Moeen Ali (81 for the 7th wicket),” he said.
“We were trying, but as the day progressed, the wicket also gradually got slower. After that we decided we will work for each wicket and everything fell into place.”
Bumrah’s stock delivery comes into the right-hander, and leaves the left-hander, but it swung in to hit Jennings in front. He pointed out it wasn’t a new delivery, but it was all about using variations smartly.
“That’s not a new ball. I have the in-swinger as well (to the lefthander), I have the out-swinger for the right-hander. I bowled that to Chris Gayle in the World T20 semifinal. When you have too many options, you don’t want to use all of them in a single day. Whenever you feel that option is suitable, you use it.”
India too planned to bat first, but the amount of movement on the pitch meant they were lucky to lose the toss.
“When we started in the morning, there was a lot of seam and swing. We also wanted to bat first, but that was more than what we expected,” he said. “It is always better (in such conditions) for the bowlers to stick to line and length and that helps get wickets. As a bunch when you are getting wickets, it’s always good for us, we can create pressure from both ends.
“I always try to add new things... It’s always better when you have options, then you are in a good space when bowling in the match. I want to keep on improving, add new deliveries so that it helps me in match situations.” England came back from 86/6 to make 246 against India in the ongoing fourth Test at Southampton. This table looks at the average runs the last four wicket stands have yielded for India and England so far in this series.*
No. of innings
England India
Total runs made by the last 4 wicket stands The Indian tail may be underperforming against England, but apart from this series, it has actually done pretty well in the recent past.
This table looks at the average runs the last four wicket stands have produced in an innings* in the past three years.
India England New Zealand South Africa Pakistan West Indies Australia Sri Lanka Bangladesh The English tail has scored an average of 91 runs, at least 30 runs more than the Indian tail
Innings average
When you have too many options, you don’t want to use all of them in a single day. Whenever you feel that option is suitable, you use it.
JASPRIT BUMRAH, after deceiving Keaton Jennings with a sharp inswinger
The Indian tail has been prolific scoring 98 runs per innings with the English tail a distant second at 84 runs per innings